Blizzard Lawsuit Hurts Disabled Gamers?

[iitob]

Recently a piece of software that was widely used by the disabled population of World of Warcraft has been ordered to be shut down (Are Blizzard Discriminating Against Disabled Gamers? | MOGS Blog). I remember talking to a guy about this bot when it was first launched and him telling me about his brother who used this extensively due to have bad arthritis in his left hand.

The software in question is MMO Glider, used to be called WoW Glider.

The argument is that it can be used by "Gold Farmers" for illegit means. If that's the case, shouldn't Blizzard develop something that replciates on the positive effects of the software?

[Mr. Matt]

I don't know about WoW, I've only played EQ2 in terms of fantasy MMORPGs, but if I were to assume that both have similar legal situations then I'm pretty sure that if you read the EULA you'll find that any third-party mod of that nature is banned without exception. Unfortunately, if such a mod helps a disabled player then they're out of luck so far as the law goes, and any attempt to develop the 'positive' effects of such a mod by the developer would probably only result in abuse that couldn't be regulated.

[ItsChip]

Ouch!

Thats harsh seeing as some people play in pain(literally).

arthritis can be a painful thing.

I got carpel tunnel once,worst day of my life.I had it for a while and left it unnoticed,it started to get worse and worse and I still left it thinking I just had a cramp or something.Then it hit me.My parents went away for the week to paris and I was at my house with a few freinds when I burst out in a frantic scream!It was so painful,I mean really painful.I went to the doctor and he told me that since I left it unnoticed,for some reason,my tendons started to rip too.I thought Id never use my beautiful thumb again

But I did..

[DrunkHandler]

Perhaps Blizzard could have a registration for disabled gamers to allow them to play with these mods. It would not be to hard to get a letter from your doctor, photocopy it, and fax it to Blizzard. I think this is a relatively feasible solution if not the most elegant. Also, symptoms of carpel tunnel aren't related to pain but revolve more around numbness in the forearm and fingertips, and once you get it, there is almost no cure short of removing tendon and bone from the area.

[Serio]

Originally Posted by DrunkHandler

Perhaps Blizzard could have a registration for disabled gamers to allow them to play with these mods. It would not be to hard to get a letter from your doctor, photocopy it, and fax it to Blizzard. I think this is a relatively feasible solution if not the most elegant. Also, symptoms of carpel tunnel aren't related to pain but revolve more around numbness in the forearm and fingertips, and once you get it, there is almost no cure short of removing tendon and bone from the area.

A letter can be forged easily. So i should sue whoever owns the local parking lot for making my parking space into a "Disabled" parking space?

[n0e]

how many people have this problem compared to how many use it to farm gold and ruin the ingame economy, thus reducing some of the fun factor that people who play the odds on the auction house enjoy?

The vast majority use it to farm, and that's why they want to remove it. It's very unfortunate that your brother is in pain, but, and I say this without trying to be rude or harsh, how is it blizzards problem and why shouldn't they kill off this program that far more people use for bad reasons? This is blizzards game and they have every right to defend it or state what can be used to interact with it.

[gravy666]

If they need to use some bot to help them play a game, than Blizzard should make WoW somehow easier for those people.

[n0e]

and how are they supposed to overcome someone's physical handicap in a game where the controls and all other forms of interaction are limited by the hardware the program resides on?

[gravy666]

I have no idea. Maybe those people should just stop playing WoW?

[Nemmerle]

Originally Posted by n0e

and how are they supposed to overcome someone's physical handicap in a game where the controls and all other forms of interaction are limited by the hardware the program resides on?

It wouldn't be hard to patch in some form of macro support. You could even release it as a utility and run it client-side for those who want to download it.

[Mr. Pedantic]

If they need to use some bot to help them play a game, than Blizzard should make WoW somehow easier for those people.

Playing WoW is not a right, it is a privilege, one that Blizzard, and Blizzard alone, has the power to regulate. If you cannot play the game because something that you deem necessary to play has been banned by Blizzard, then that is not their problem. It is their game, and saying what they should or should not do with it is sort of pointless.

[Flodgy]

Originally Posted by n0e

how many people have this problem compared to how many use it to farm gold and ruin the ingame economy, thus reducing some of the fun factor that people who play the odds on the auction house enjoy?

The vast majority use it to farm, and that's why they want to remove it. It's very unfortunate that your brother is in pain, but, and I say this without trying to be rude or harsh, how is it blizzards problem and why shouldn't they kill off this program that far more people use for bad reasons? This is blizzards game and they have every right to defend it or state what can be used to interact with it.

n0e's right on the money. While it is unfortunate that people have such disabilities and issues in life, the fact remains that the bot is considered and exploit and is harnessed by the wrong people for the wrong reasons. While Blizzard is not responsible for developing a way around this problem, it isn't something that can be easily fixed either.

Another good example would be game's piracy, and the effect they have on the market. Many developers are resorting to controversial methods to protect their games now, but it is something that has to be done due to the abuse shown by others, ruining it. We have to deal with it, accept it, and move on.

All they are doing is caring for their product.